Stockhausen's late 60s composition "Mantra" was a return to his intricately systematised approach to musical construction, expanding the possibilities and potentialities of the serial principle to allow for more melodic and embraceable compositions.
Label: Hat [now] ART Catalog ID: Hat[now]ART190 Squidco Product Code: 19765
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2014 Country: Switzerland Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels Recorded at Hall Two, Kings Place, London, England on Janurary 5th and 6th, 2013 by David Lefeber.
"The composition of Mantra was a turning point for Stockhausen. After a period in the second half of the 1960s during which his music had taken a decidedly speculative turn, Mantra signalled a return to the intricately systematised approach to musical construction that had characterised his serial works of the 1950s, and at the same time established a set of concerns that would underpin his music for much of the remainder of his life. This return to serial preoccupations was, however, by no means a regression. Mantra expanded the possibilities and potentialities of the serial principle, effecting a decisive shift away from the more austere and abstract music of the 1950s, and effectively re-opening the doors to melody, theatre, extra-musical reference, and allusions to tonal harmony."-Newton Armstrong
"Mantra is a composition by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. It was composed in 1970 and premiered in autumn of the same year in Donaueschingen. The work is scored for two ring-modulated pianos; each player is also equipped with a chromatic set of crotales (antique cymbals) and a wood block, and one player is equipped with a short-wave radio producing morse code or a magnetic tape recording of morse code. In his catalogue of works, the composer designated it as work number 32."-Wikipedia